U.S. Central Command

Latest Stories

Report: Intelligence on fight against IS wasn’t falsified

By DEB RIECHMANN and LOLITA C. BALDOR - Associated Press

Army Gen. Joseph Votel speaks to reporters Saturday, May 21, 2016, during a secret trip to Syria. Votel said he is encouraged by progress in building local Syrian Arab and Kurdish forces to fight the Islamic State. (AP Photo/Robert Burns)

Gen. Joseph Votel, top U.S. commander for the Middle East, makes secret visit to Syria

By Robert Burns - Associated Press

The Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kundiz, Afghanistan, was charred by a U.S. airstrike intended for a Taliban-infested building 480 yards away. A review of U.S. Central Command's hundreds of pages of investigative files shows a series of botched decisions resulted in the deaths of 42 patients and staff. (Associated Press)

U.S. airstrike on Afghan hospital the culmination of a tragedy of errors

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

This still image made from video released by the U.S. Central Command on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, shows a structure in Tall Al Qitar, Syria moments after a U.S. airstrike. In three waves of nighttime attacks launched over four hours early on Tuesday, the U.S. and its Arab partners made more than 200 airstrikes against roughly a dozen militant targets in Syria. (AP Photo/US Central Command)

Obama too cautious in bombing ISIS, former war planners say

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

Intelligence Failure Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

JED BABBIN: The CENTCOM Syndrome

By Jed Babbin

The Islamic State is building up infrastructure across territory its militants have captured in Iraq and Syria. Analysts say the group will become more entrenched among local populations if its governance goes unchallenged. (jihadology.net) **FILE**

Only ‘four or five’ U.S.-trained fighters in Syria

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

Gen. Raymond T. Odierno said that had the U.S. military stayed in Iraq longer, the Islamic State situation might be under more control. (Associated Press)

U.S. troop withdrawal let Islamic State enter Iraq, military leaders say

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

President Barack Obama talks with the Joint Chiefs of Staff following a meeting in the Situation Room of the White House, Oct. 28, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Obama’s Islamic State strategy sparks doubt, resentment among Pentagon officials

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, warning about a plan to retake Iraq's second-largest city, said "Mosul is 1.4 to 1.8 million people. It's always been a hostile place." (Associated Press)

Mission to retake Mosul from Islamic State doomed, general says

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2014 file photo, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks at the Pentagon. The Pentagon took initial steps Friday to set up a new agency that will direct the troubled effort to search for America’s missing war dead, two years after an internal report found the current program was mismanaged and wasteful. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

Pentagon to probe breach of retired officers’ personal information in Twitter hack

By Maggie Ybarra - The Washington Times

This image posted by the Raqqa Media Center, which monitors events in territory controlled by Islamic State militants with the permission of the extremist group, shows militants with a captured pilot, center, wearing a white shirt in Raqqa, Syria, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. Islamic State group militants captured a Jordanian pilot, Mu'ath Safi Yousef al-Kaseasbeh, after his warplane went down in Syria, Jordan said Wednesday, the first such capture since the international coalition's air campaign against the group began. The pilot's family confirmed that it is al-Kaseasbeh shown in the image. (AP Photo/Raqqa Media Center)

Pentagon: Crashed Jordanian jet was not shot down by Islamic State

By Maggie Ybarra - The Washington Times

Illustration: Mad Hatter (after John Tenniel) by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

Obama’s Mad Hatter’s Tea Party strategy to destroy the Islamic State

By Bruce Fein

LAST LINE OF DEFENSE: Afghan National Army forces are not ready to rebuff an expected Taliban offensive, on its own, once all American troops leave after 2016, according to reports from U.S. Green Berets. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Green Berets reveal Afghan National Army soldiers’ incompetence

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

Capts. Andrew Glowa, left, and William Piepenbring launch flares from two A-10C Thunderbolt IIs Aug. 18, 2014, over southern Georgia. Both pilots are with the 74th Fighter Squadron, Moody Air Force Base, Ga. Pilots, maintainers and support Airmen ensure Moody AFB’s A-10s stay mission ready for daily training sorties and deployments downrange. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jamal D. Sutter/Released) ** FILE **

U.S. military limits warplanes used for ISIS bombing in Iraq, Syria

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

In this image provided by the U.S. Navy a F/A-18F Super Hornet attached to the Fighting Black Lions of Strike Fighter Squadron lands aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, after conducting strike missions against Islamic State group targets in Syria. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy, Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brian Stephens)

U.S. airstrikes on Islamic State and Khorasan Group insufficient, critics say

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville, Jr., Director of Operations J3, speaks about the operations in Syria, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, during a news conference at the Pentagon. In a separate action from the air strikes against the Islamic State group, the U.S. bombed a cell of al Qaida militants in northwestern Syria after concluding they were close to attacking the U.S. or Europe, Pentagon officials say. Mayville, the Pentagon’s operations chief, said that the Khorasan Group was nearing “the execution phase of an attack either in Europe or the homeland.&quot; (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Pentagon: Al Qaeda splinter planned ‘imminent’ U.S. attack

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III (left), commander of the U.S. Central Command, had wanted to be more aggressive in using ground troops in Iraq but did not win his superiors' or the White House's OK. (Associated Press)

CENTCOM leader sought ground troops in Iraq

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

The first page of the report released by U.S. Central Command Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014, on the friendly fire incident in Afghanistan in June is photographed in Washington on Sept. 4, 2014. Avoidable miscommunication between U.S. air and ground forces led to a incident that killed five U.S. soldiers and one Afghan. The report cited a collective failure by soldiers, commanders and air crew members to execute the fundamentals of the mission. As a result, the five Americans and one Afghan were mistaken for the enemy and were attacked with two laser-guided bombs from a B-1 bomber. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Miscommunication blamed for deadly US mistake

By ROBERT BURNS - Associated Press

This undated image provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. The nearly five-year effort to free the only American soldier held captive in Afghanistan is scattered among numerous federal agencies with a loosely organized group of people working on it mostly part time, according to two members of Congress and military officials involved in the effort. An ever-shrinking U.S. military presence in Afghanistan has re-focused attention on efforts to bring home Bergdahl, who has been held by the Taliban since June 30, 2009. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)

AP sources: Work to free US soldier disorganized

By DEB RIECHMANN - Associated Press

A U.S. soldier returns fire as others run for cover during a firefight with insurgents in the Badula Qulp area, west of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010. The unit is operating in support of a U.S. Marine offensive against the Taliban in Marjah area. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Medal of Honor: General orders review of tracking battlefield awards

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times